Prometheus 6

He has forced the major media (except Fox News, of course) to confront the truth.

All campaigns fall short, but some fall far shorter than others. And it is a phony evenhandedness, comfortable for journalists but ultimately misleading, that equates these failures without measuring the grossness of their deviation from the standard of decency.

In the 2008 race, and especially in the past few weeks, the imbalance has become unnervingly stark. Ideological differences aside, John McCain's campaign has been more dishonest, more unfair, more -- to use a word that resonates with McCain -- dishonorable than Barack Obama's.

This phony evenhandedness has been the hallmark of American media for as long as I can remember. Of course they would apply it to politics. Republicans knew this and spun things accordingly. And there's still some of that in the media mix.